As the rest of the school was heading home for the day, a small group of students were gathered outside the classroom that had been designated for Detention that day. When the supervising teacher arrived, the students all signed in, found seats, and took out whatever homework they had.

Claire was supposed to be finishing her History essay, but she was actually staring out of the window and wishing she was at cheerleading practice like she was supposed to be. She carefully looked at what everyone else was doing – Isaac was sketching, Mohinder had taken out a heavy-looking book with "Activating Evolution" on the cover, and the only other person in Detention that day was a sophomore called Ted, who was writing something in a notebook. The teacher had been reading assignments for the first ten minutes, but had fallen asleep.

Just as Claire was starting to actually look at the work she was supposed to be doing, she was distracted by the sound of something hitting the window. She looked outside, and saw Peter. She smiled at him, and he crept closer to the window, holding up a piece of paper so she could read what was written on it.

The paper read "We're going to get you out of there. Eden's on her way. She says she can persuade the teacher to let you out (I'm the back-up plan). Tell everyone else to get ready. You're going to have to climb out through the window, there are too many people in the corridor."

Claire reached across the gap between the desks and tapped Mohinder on the shoulder. When he looked up, she pointed to the message Peter was still holding up against the window. He then passed the message on to Isaac and Ted, and all four started to put their things away very, very quietly, so that the teacher didn't wake up.

A few minutes later, there was a loud knock on the door and the teacher woke up, sitting bolt upright in his chair. He got up to answer the door, and opened it to reveal Eden.

"Yes?"

"I've come with a message from Mr Bennet. These students don't need to be in detention today."

"How do I know you're not just making this up?"

"Why would I do that?" Eden looked the teacher right in the eyes. "You're going to let these students out of Detention, right now."

"Uh…yes… of course. The principal must have his reasons."

"Thank you."

The teacher turned away. "Uh… you can all go now. Detention is cancelled." He then sat down at his desk, feeling very confused. He almost didn't notice the four students heading for the now-open window and one by one climbing out.

(Author's Note: FYI, italics will be used for people's thoughts (and the occasional note). Bold is Eden "persuading" people to do stuff.)

As Claire watched Eden talk to the teacher, she couldn't figure out why the teacher suddenly just agreed to let them go. She was still thinking about it as she stood up to go over to the window, and as a result she collided with Isaac, who dropped his notebook – which fell onto her desk. As she reached down to give it back to him, she saw that the page it had fallen open on had a drawing of a girl who looked a lot like she did, being helped out of a window by a boy who looked like Peter.

She looked quizzically at him as she passed the book to him, and when he saw her face he suddenly went very pale, and hurried to the window, passing his bag to Peter and then climbing out. Claire climbed out next, followed by the others. Mohinder – the last one out – shut the window, and then they all ran away before someone saw them. When they were a safe distance from the detention classroom, they stopped.

"Thanks for that, Peter." Claire said.

"No problem. Today's a nice day, no-one should have to be in detention."

"Still… you didn't have to do that."

"Maybe I wanted to."

At this point, they were interrupted by Eden. "So… what are we going to do now?"

"Well, I can't go to cheerleading, they know I'm supposed to be in detention. And we can't really go home, because our parents know we're meant to be here."

"What about the park? It's a nice day. I think the others were going there after school anyway, we could go and find them."

Everyone agreed with Peter, and they headed for the park that was near their school. As they walked, Claire pulled Peter away to ask him something. "Are you sure it's okay for me to go with you guys?"

"Of course it's okay. Anyway, you know Zach, don't you? He'll probably be there."

"Oh. That's okay then."

Meanwhile, Mohinder had a question for Eden.

"How did you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Persuade the teacher to let us go. It looked like you just told him to let us out, and he did, even though he didn't want to."

"Look, Mohinder, I'm just a naturally persuasive person, okay? It's a talent."

"Right. Of course."

Although she had brushed it off as nothing, Mohinder had a feeling that Eden was more than just "naturally persuasive". His only problem was that he had no idea how she had done what she did.

When they arrived at the park, they soon found the rest of their friends hanging around near the refreshment stand. Claire went over to talk to Zach, while the others told the story of the Great Detention Escape – except for Isaac, who found a quiet place to sit and was flicking through the pages of his sketchbook and frowning.

Claire and Zach were sitting on a bench together, catching up.

"I hear Peter staged a big rescue to get you out of Detention."

"Yeah. Him and Eden. It was nice of them, don't you think?"

"I guess."

"Zach… do you like Peter?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because whenever you two are together, you get really weird. He's nice, but it's like you can't stand him."

"Look, how long have we known each other?"

"Uh… since we were four?"

"Exactly. We used to be best friends."

"We still are best friends."

"Are we? We've barely started high school, and you spend more time with Peter than me. And if you're not with him, you're texting him or talking about him. I don't like that."

"Oh. Well, I'm sorry you feel like that. I didn't know you could get so jealous."

"Claire…"

"No, don't. Why didn't you say something before now?"

"I didn't know how to. And it doesn't matter now, anyway."

"What? Why not?"

"My parents told me last night. My dad got a promotion, and we have to move."

"Move? Where to? Somewhere close?"

"Not exactly."

"Where, Zach?"

"Texas. Some town called Odessa, I think."

"You're moving to Texas?"

"Yeah."

"When?"

"At the end of this week."

"Oh my god. Oh my god. Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm sorry, Claire. I… we'll keep in touch, right?"

"Of course we will. I'll call every night if you want."

"That might get expensive. Um…" He looked at his watch. "Oh no…"

"What?"

"I promised Mom and Dad I'd be home by five to help pack. It's quarter to five now."

"Oh. I'll still see you at school tomorrow, though, right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay then."

As Zach picked up his schoolbag and walked away, Claire sat alone for a moment, watching him go.

"Claire?"

She looked up to see Peter standing in front of her, holding two bottles of coke. "Are you okay, Claire?"

"Oh… yeah. I'm fine."

"D'you want a drink?" He offered her one of the bottles, and she reached up to take it.

"Thanks."

He sat down next to her. "So what did Zach say to upset you?"

"Nothing."

"He must have said something. Where did he go, anyway?"

"Home." She sighed. "He just told me that his family is moving to Texas at the end of the week. His dad got promoted or something."

"Oh. Well… you're still going to be able to call and email him, right? It's Texas, not Siberia. You could go and see him during summer vacation, even."

"Yeah, I guess."

"So you're okay then?"
"Yeah." Except that my best friend since I was four is jealous of you for being my friend.

Peter frowned. "What did you say?"

"I said I'm fine, Peter. Don't worry about me."
"Oh… I was sure you said something else, something about Zach being jealous… never mind."

"Right. Uh… I need to use the bathroom, I'll be back soon. Can you watch my bag?"

"Okay, sure."

As Claire walked away towards the public restrooms, Peter wondered what was going on. He was sure Claire had said something about Zach being jealous of him, but she hadn't.